Bearing assembly



July 21,1942. J. E. SHAFER BEARING AS SEMBLY Original Filed Feb. 5, 1940ME a JUL/w JHA mm Patented July 21, 1942 i Original application February5, 1940, Serial No. 317,278. Divided and this application August.11,-1941, Serial No. 406,270

2 Claims. (Cl. 30-8 194) This invention relates to bearing units andhousing assemblies adapted to be readily locked together in operativerelation with lubricant conveying means so that the interior of thesealed units can. be readily lubricated. More specifically thisinvention relates to the locking of a sealed bearing unit in a one-piecepillow block or other housing with a lubricant conveying locking pinwhich is insertable in a boreof the housing for seating in a dimpleformed in the outer wall of the bearing unit.

This application is a division of my pending application entitledBearings, Serial No. 317,278,

' filed February 5, 1940.

According to this invention a housing for a bearing unit such as apillowblock has a bore extending therethrough into communication with Ia closed perimeter dimple or depression formed in the outer wall of thebearing unit which communicates with the interior of the bearing unitthrough a small bore extending from the bottom of the dimple. A lockingpin, preferably having a passage therethrough is seatedin the bore ofthe housing and projects freely therefrom into the dimple. The lockingpin is larger than the bore extending from the bottom of the dimple tothe interior of the bearing unit but is preferably smaller than thedimple so that the bearing unit can move relative to the housing.

A lubricant fitting is preferably threaded into the bore of the housingabove or outwardly from the locking pin for supplying lubricant throughthe pin to the dimple. The lubricant in the dimple in turn is suppliedto the interior of the bearing unit through the bore extending from thebottom of the dimple.

It is then an object of this invention to provide an improved lubricantconveying locking means between bearing units and housings for suchunits A further object of this invention is to provide a bearingunit andhousing assembly having a separate locking pin' projecting from thehousing into a depression in the bearing unit which is capable ofconveying lubricant from a fitting mounted on the housing to theinterior of the bearing unit.

A further object of this invention is to provide abearing unit andhousing assembly with a lubricant conveying locking pin arrangementwhich will not shear off or damage the assembly.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the following detailed description of theannexed sheet .of drawings which, by Way of example; il-

lustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention.. On the drawing:

' Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a sealed bearing unit mountedin a one-piece pillow block in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view, with parts inelevation, taken along the line II-II of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating the bearing unit ina cocked position to show that in even such position lubricant can bereadily supplied to the interior of the bearing.

Figure '4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the locking pin shownin Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the locking pin shownin Figure 4.

As shown on the drawing:

In Figures 1, 2 and 3, the reference numeral I0 designates generally aone-piece pillow block having a sealed bearing unit I I mounted therein.As shown in Figure 1, the pillow block I0 is provided with feet l2 andI3 having holes or slots 1 4 formed therethrough for receiving bolts torigidly attach the pillow block to a supporting structure (not shown) Anannular strap portion I5 is formed intermediate the feet l2 and I3 andis provided with a concave or depressed inner face l6 forming a bearingsurface for the outer race ring of the sealed bearing unit ll.

Slots or grooves I! and I8 areformed in the strap portion IS on theinner wall thereof to permit insertion of the bearing unit horizontallyinto the pillow block. The bearing, when thus inserted in the slots I1and I8, can then be rotated to a vertical position to be seated on thebearingwall l6 of the strap l5.

The top of the strap l5 has a radial bore I9 therethrough receiving alubricant fitting 20 in threaded relation therein. The lubricant fittingprojects from the top of the pillow block and has a passageway 20atherethrough for supplying lubricant to the interior of the bore for apurpose to be hereinafter more fully described.

The bearing unit H, as best shown in Figures 2 and 3, comprises an innerrace ring 30 adapted to be disposed around the shaftor other rotatingmember (not shown). The race ring 30 has a circumferential groove 3|forming a raceway for a row of ball bearings such as 32. An outer racering 33 is disposed in spaced concentric relation around the race ring30 and has a groove 34 around the inner circumference thereofforreceiving the row of ball bearings such as 32. The

ball bearings thus hold the race rings 30 and 32 in spaced concentricrelation.

The periphery of the outer race ring 33 has a convex surface 35 forfitting in the concave surface of the strap l5 as shown in Figures 2 and3. A well or closed perimeter dimple or depression 36 is formed in theouter race ring 33 for receiving a retainer pin 31 projecting freelyfrom the bore 19 in the strap IS. The retainer pin 31 fits loosely inthe dimple 36 and has an axial passage 31a therethrough for transmittinglu.- bricant from the passageway 20a of the fitting 20 to the dimple 36.The bottom of the dimple has a passageway 36a extending therefrom intothe space between the race rings 30 and 33. The passageway 36apreferably communicates with the space between the race ring in spacedrelation from the raceways 3| and 34 thereof so that the ball bearings32 will not wear or chip th mouth of the passageway as they rotate underloads.

In this manner lubricant is supplied to the antifriction elementsbetween the race rings and th outer race ring is held in the pillowblock. However, the bearing unit H can have limited universal movementrelative to the pillow block since the retaining pin 31 fits loosely inthe dimple 36. The space between the race rings, nevertheless, is alwaysheld in communication with a source of lubricant since the passageways20a,

31a and 3611 are always in communication with this space even though thebearing unit assumes an extreme cocked position, as shown in Figure 3,by rotation Of the unit for 180 in the pillow block.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the space between the race ring is sealedby means of seals comprising retainer rings 40 pressed into the outerrace ring 33, flingers M pressed onto the inner race ring and feltwashers 42 carried by the flingers in the spaces between the flingersand retainers. As a result, a sealed ball bearing chamber 43 is providedwhich, as explained above, is always in full communication with a sourceof lubricant.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a bearing assembly including a housing having a one-piece interiorannular wall and a bearing unit having an exterior annular wall forseating on said interior annular wall of the housing, said housinghaving a bore therethrough adapted to receive a lubricant fitting, andsaid exterior annular wall of the bearing unit having a closed perimeterdimple therein with a small bore extending from the dimple to theinterior of the bearing unit, the improvement which comprises a lockingpin projecting freely from the bore of the housing into said dimple andsaid pin being so formed with respect to said bore of the housing topermit free flow of lubricant from the fitting to the dimple whileloosely retaining the bearing unit in the housing.

2. In a bearing assembly including a housing having a one-piece interiorannular wall with a bore therethrough and a sealed bearing unit havingan exterior annular wall for seating on said interior annular wall ofthe housing, the improvements which comprise said exterior wall of thebearing unit having a closed perimeter dimple therein adapted toregister with said bore of the housing, said dimple having a small boreextending from the bottom thereof to the interior of the bearing unit,and a hollow retaining pin in said bore of the housing extending freelytherefrom into the dimple, said retaining pin being disposed freely inthe dimple but being larger than the bore extending from the dimple tothe interior of the housing whereby said pin will lock the housing andbearing unit together while maintaining the bearing unit in constantcommunication with the bore of the housing to receive lubricanttherefrom.

JULIUS E. SHAFER.

